weight gain after gallbladder removal

I had my gallbladder removed in 2004 and since have gained weight that I usually would not gain. I have tried several diets and workouts nothing is working. Any suggestions

I had my gallbladder removed in Nov 05 and sine then i have gained over 30lbs. I gained more then 13lbs in 3 months. My highest weight was 142 before surgery and now i am 170. i really believe that the surgery is the cause of my weight gain.

hello! I am a 23 year old female. I had my gall bladder removed May 30, 2007, and since then i have gained almost 50 pounds. I have often wondered if having your gall bladder removed, causes the weight gain, cause I eat no differently than I did before, no more, no less, I don't even eat the fatty foods that did cause the gall bladder attacks. For example, Pizza was one of them, and after surgery, i can hardly stand the sight of the stuff, because of how it made me feel when i was having gall bladder attacks. My attacks started when i was 19, and they were not too often, maybe one a year. Then it turned to being more frequent, and more painful each time i had one. I went to the E.R 5 times, trying to find out what was wrong.. The 5th time being with an attack that lasted me almost 30 hours!! I finally had an ultrasound and they discovered gall stones. After fighting to have surgery, as I had no insurance at the time.. I had the surgery. My doctor did not put me on any kind of diet, just told me to eat light the first night after surgery. I felt good, because this monster of a bother was gone finally! Well then here came the weight.. I had always been a little "chunky" as some say, but i had lost weight on my own, when i was 20, and was down to 130, and I was happy with that I maintained that weight, until.... Then I went through with surgery, I was not given any other options.. IE- flushing or eating certain foods to dissolve the stones. So, I figure i'm stuck with 5 nasty scars, on top of a previous scar from a surgery when i was 14 in my abdomen.. and a weight gain of 50 pounds. I am not happy, My husband can see the difference in my personality because of this weight gain. As, we were together when i was alot smaller, and now i'm alot bigger. I have tried different diets and exercise, and have not lost any weight. If the doctor would have warned me of weight gain, heartburn, and diareah.. I would have asked about different options. he made it seem to me that surgery was my only option and he was rush rush rush to get it done. Of course he was that way, it was more money in his pocket. Not saying that to offend anyone, espically a possible doctor or nurse that may be reading this.. But this doctor in particular had the attitude. I just don't know what to do about it anymore, i was hoping that someone might be able to give me some insight on this problem. From what i've read there really isn't much to do about it. except for possible suppliments and vitamins, which are way too pricey for my budget. someone has gotta have some kind of helpful thoughts or advice, please?!

Well here is my story, I am a 31 yr old male, I suffer from chronic pancreatitis. I had my Gall Bladder removed in November of '07. Little complications after the fact. I have heard many that have gained large amounts of weight and this was a concern for me, however here it is 10 mos. later and I have actually lost weight, now mind you I do have this chronic pancreatitis condition so this may be most of the reason for no weight gain. A few advisement tips I was told from a GI doc and a surgeon, was to refrain from enriched white flour ingredients, sugar, pasta, fried foods etc. What happens, to my understanding is since the gall bladder is no longer in the body and was meant to store bile, the body must produce this bile as you eat, and sometimes does not produce enough to break down the foods hence the weight gain. In an advisement pamphlet handed too me post surgery the number one listing on living with out a gall bladder was weight gain. So maintaining a healthy diet is a must, may I mention that I personally am on a less than 30 grams of fat per day, the FDA recommends on average that we should limit our total fat intake to 60 grams or less. Keep in mind though we are all different and our bodies respond in opposite ways sometimes. One thing that has always lingered in the back of my mind though was we were made to have every part in our body, so w/o an organ such as the gall bladder noticeable results are going to be a given.

Bile is continuously produced whether your eating or not. It is produced in greater amounts when eating due to secretion stimulating the bile duct cells. If you don't have an extra amount stored in your gall bladder to adequately digest the dietary fats, it's passed in your stool - not kept in your body as extra weight. You'd notice this in the appearance of your stools.

Before concluding any metabolic causes of your weight gain, first try keeping food diary using a small pocket calendar to record your meals and associated calories daily. Each week, check and see if you have a net deficit or gain in calories relative to your Basal metabolic rate + activity level - E.g. 2000 a day X 7 days 14000 calories a week for maintenance. If you tallied 15000, then you have an approximate gain of 1000 calories stored probably as fat. This would be approximately 1000/3500 Lb gain. If the numbers do not add up after several months, then there is justification for more tests.

Hi Everyone,

I am new to this site... I have been doing web searches because I am scheduled to have gall bladder removal next week and I am panicking. I am 24 and have always had an issue with my wieght. Now I am looking at all these posts of people complaining about major weight gain after their procedure. My mom keeps saying stay optimistic but right now I am wishing I did not have to do this surgery. Can anyone provide some more insight into their experience? Thanks.

Gee, sorry to hear about all the complications. I had my gallbladder out three days ago and it is no big deal. Went to hospital and had procedure outpatient and went home and drank chocolate skim milk...no problems.

I had my gallbladder removed in June. I have been hypothyroid for most of my adult life and have worked really hard to maintain my weight. I have never been close to thin - unless you consider a solid 175 lbs thin! That said, after I had my gallbladder out I gained approximately 10 lbs. I seem unable to lose it - whether it be following a weight watchers diet, exercising 4 times a week or cutting out all sweets and fats. But that is all I have gained. It doesn't appear to be an immediate weight-gain sentence when you have your gallbladder out. I think part of my problem is that as soon as I was able to eat normally after my surgery, I splurged a little, especially since I had been so careful for the 3 months leading up to my surgery. I would suggest that you just don't let go - stay on the healthy eating track and try not to overreact if you gain a few pounds! Good luck.

Hi. I had my gallbladder removed 3 months ago and have gained 8lbs. I have gone back to eating very little (mainly salads and soups) and I exercise 2 times a week at the gym and 15 minutes every morning; if I didn't I would gain more weight. My stomach is still painful and constantly bloated. I can't fit into my old clothes and I now wear the next size up. Unlike other people on this site I struggle going to the toilet and suffer with really bad constipation. Does this make sense to anyone? I'm severely depressed, I don't go out anymore as I just feel fat and horrible. Having this surgery feels like it's destroyed my life. Can anyone help me?